CLOUD [עָנָנ֒, H6727, עֲנָנָה, H6729, (Job 3:5 only), עֲנָן, H10560, (Aram. of Dan. 7:13 only), meaning cloud, mist, vapor, or dust cloud; נָשִׂיא֮, H5955, meaning rain cloud, עָב֮, H6265, meaning thin cloud, שַׁ֫חַק, H8836, meaning high cloud (Prov 25:14 only), νεφέλη, νέφος (Heb 12:1 only) meaning cloud of any kind.]
1. Weather in Palestine. The climate of Pal. is relatively simple. The weather is highly predictable for every day in each season, and the seasons are nearly identical in pattern every year. To the W lies the Mediterranean Sea; to the E the desert. The prevailing winds come from the W and bring clouds. If it is cool enough or if the mountains are high enough, the clouds release their water in the form of rain or, more rarely, snow. Therefore, the coast and the higher mountains, particularly Gilead and Moab, receive the most rain but this is only in the winter. One may see clouds year round, and even though they do provide shade they may not drop rain. Frequently a mist is seen in the morning, but the rising heat of the day quickly dispels it.
2. Biblical terminology. Not only are there several words for “cloud” in Heb. but there are, in some instances, several kinds of clouds meant and various illustrative points able to be drawn from each. The most common Heb. word is עָנָנ֒, H6727, and it is used in several ways. It occurs four times in Genesis 9 (vv. 13, 14, 16) as the cloud in which Noah’s rainbow is to be seen. It is the exclusive word for the pillar of cloud that led the children of Israel through the wilderness, and in this connection appears c. forty times in Exodus through Deuteronomy. This same word describes that which obscured the top of Mt. Sinai when Moses received the law (Exod 19). The word also describes clouds of dust or smoke as implied in Exodus 14:20 and 1 Kings 8:10f. and perhaps also Nahum 1:3. In none of these references is there a mention of rain.
Rain clouds are generally described by the second most common word עָב֮, H6265. Although it is used sometimes in parallel with the first word, as in Exodus 19:9, this is the word connected with rain. Psalm 77:17; Ecclesiastes 11:3; and Isaiah 5:6 all illustrate the same.
The third most common Heb. word for cloud שַׁ֫חַק, H8836, is related to a verb meaning “to be thin” and hence it refers to scattered or thin clouds. The RSV renders this word “skies” in Job 36:28.
In the NT the word for “cloud” is νεφέλη, G3749, except for the masc. form which occurs once (Heb 12:1). The word describes both rain clouds (cf. Luke 12:54; Jude 12) and that which obscures or accompanies Christ (Luke 21:27, et al.).
In many instances in both Testaments clouds indicate God’s coming or covering. “Behold the Lord is riding on a swift cloud...” (Isa 19:1; cf. Pss 104:3 and 147:8). The word in these instances is עָב֮, H6265. Throughout the Sinai episode God’s presence or leadership was seen in the cloud (עָנָנ֒, H6727, Exod 16:10; 19:16; 24:15, 16, 18; 34:5; 40:34-38; Num 9:15-22, et al.). At the transfiguration of Jesus a voice came from the cloud (Mark 9:7) and Jesus was received up into a cloud (Acts 1:9). Furthermore, the saints on earth will be caught up with the raptured dead into the clouds (1 Thess 4:17). Christ will return as He predicted (Matt 24:30, et al.) in the clouds (Rev 1:7).
The Bible writers used clouds to illustrate many things. Hosea illustrates transitoriness (6:4), “Your love is like a morning cloud, like the dew that goes early away.” (Cf. Job 7:9 or 30:15.) Koheleth illustrates the depression that comes with old age: “Remember also your Creator in the days of your youth, before...the clouds return after the rain” (Eccl 12:1f.). Isaiah pictures swiftness and irretrievability in Isaiah 60:8 and 44:22 respectively: “Who are these that fly like a cloud?” “I have swept away your transgressions like a cloud, and your sins like a mist.” Both Job 38:37 and Hebrews 12:1 illustrate innumerability: “Who can number the clouds by wisdom?” “Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses....” Several passages portray divine visitation: “For the day is near, the day of the Lord is near; it will be a day of clouds, a time of doom for the nations” (Ezek 30:3; cf. Joel 2:1f. and Zeph 1:15).
Job uses clouds to illustrate things more widely by far than any other Bible book. Not only the uses noted above but the following are worthy of mention: Job 20:6 illustrates height while other vv. (36:29; 37:16; and 38:34) illustrate man’s inability to understand, comprehend, or compare with God’s creation. By the same token they show God’s power (Job 26:9; 37:11; and 38:9).
Bibliography G. A. Smith, Historical Geography of the Holy Land (1894), ch. III; D. Baly, The Geography of the Bible (1957), chs. IV and V.